Many eyelid retracting devices are described in the prior art. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,190 to Sunalp, an eyelid speculum device is disclosed. It is used to hold a person's eyelids open for ocular surgery, treatment, examination, or other reason. It may be inserted between the upper and lower eyelids of a person's eye.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,261 to Nevyas, an eye proposing speculum that applies pressure to urge the eyeball outwardly is disclosed. The speculum includes a pair of blades and a pair of pressors. Each blade is shaped to engage a patient between one of the eyelids and the eyeball.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,916 to McKee, an eyelid retractor comprises a loop having a smooth surface with eyelid restraining blades positioned on opposite sides thereof. The retractor is sufficiently malleable to be in elastically deformed such that the blades are in a desired eyelid retracting configuration and the retractor loop is also bent to conform to the face of the patient such that the retractor is supported by the face.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,544,169 to Putrino discloses an eye retraction device that comprises a pair of arms connected at a joint. The arms are in a wishbone form with a size and configuration that accommodate the anatomy of the eye. The arms can be embodied in several preferred ways so that the size and configuration of the wishbone can be changed dynamically, adjusted resiliently, or fixed manually.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,752 to Svetliza, the eyelid speculum is provided as a truncated cone-shaped main body with lid retractors tending out of it in the form of a ring, forming an angle appropriate to the curvature of the eye.
The prior art devices retract the eyelid, but provide uneven exposure, particularly to the superior conjunctival margin in an anesthetized patient. The spreading action of such existing devices provides relatively wide exposure at the lateral and medial margins, but lesser exposure superiorly or inferiorly. This is particularly problematic in an anesthetized eye, where the Bell's reflex action tends to move the eye into a relative upward gaze position, further compromising the surgical exposure from the eyelid retractor. Some surgical procedures, notably for glaucoma, require an incision in the superior margin of the sclera. There exists a need, therefore, for an eyelid retracting device that can deliver better surgical exposure to the superior conjunctival margin of the sclera.
Moreover, existing prior art eyelid retractors offer either two-point contact with the medial and lateral aspects of the upper and lower eyelids (which fails to adequately retract the middle portions of the lids, decreasing exposure inferiorly and superiorly), or a bladed design which applies potentially injurious pressure to the whole of the delicate palpebral conjunctival surfaces. The need exists, therefore, for an eyelid retracting device that can deliver better surgical exposure to the superior and inferior conjunctival margins of the sclera, with reduced pressure on the palpebral conjunctival surfaces. The need exists also for an eyelid retracting device that prevents eyelashes from everting during surgery to minimize the risk of infection associated therewith.